Summary of 'Parijata Harana' by Sankardeva

 The Parijata Harana is an Ankiya Nat written by the prolific writer Sankardeva. The Sanskrit term Anka denotes an one act play. Ankiya Nats are usually performed at night,  during winters or on religious occasions.  Female roles are played by males. The Parijata Harana was written towards the end of Sankardeva's life. The play retells two stories adapted from the Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana. 

The play begins with the sutradhara announcing about the arrival of of the supreme Lord Krishna along with his wives Satyabhama and Rukmini.  Krishna is living with Rukmini in a palace when Lord Indra arrives with the celestial Sage Narada. When Krishna and his wife Rukmini bow down to their guests, Narada places the Parijata flower in the hands of Krishna as a blessing. He even mentions about the speciality of the flower that its smell can be sensed from about six kilometers away. The woman who wears the flower always enjoys the company of her husband and nothing but good fortune stays with her throughout her life. Hearing the magical properties of the flower, Rukmini requests Krishna to present her with the flower. Lord Krishna instantly puts the flower in Rukmini's hair with a gentle smile on his face.

     Sage Narada then informs them about the purpose of their visit. He tells the Lord that the cruel demon Naraka has been creating a lot of trouble to the Gods, due to which lord Indra and his wife Shachi had to take refuge at his feet. He mentions about the items stolen from the Gods by Naraka, which include the umbrella of Varuna; earrings of Aditi and lots of other jewel.Lord Indra bursts into tears and begs Shri Krishna to help him by finishing off the demon. Lord Krishna promises to help Indra and all the Gods and suggests him to return back to Amravati. With the required assurance, Indra moves back to his palace on the back of his elephant Airavata.

       After this Narada visits Satyabhama's palace and greets her with a smile. He starts fuelling a rage in Satyabhama by mentioning about the parijata flower that he had earlier given to Krishna. He further instigates Satyabhama by demonstrating how Krishna inserted the flower in Rukmini's hair with love. This enrages Satyabhama and she feels a sense of humiliation and faints right  there. Seeing this, the troublemaker Narada goes to Krishna and informs him about the condition of Satyabhama. Krishna immediately rushes to Satyabhama's palace and picks her up and embraces her with love. He then apologizes to her for the sorrow that he has caused because of the flower, and promises her a hundred of such Parijata flowers. However he tells her that at the utmost, he will have to go to Kamrup to kill the demon Naraka in order to help the Gods. Satyabhama insists on accompanying her husband to Kamrup because apparently she doesn't believe in her husband,who might give the Parijata flowers to his other wives. 

         Both Shri Krishna and his wife Satyabhama fly to Kamrup in the Garuda bird at the speed of the wind. When they reach, Krishna declares a war by blowing his conch Panchajanya. Krishna then easily slaughters all the demons successively including the wicked ruler Narakasura. As soon as Krishna kills Naraka, the Gods celebrate as a sign of relief. When Vasumati learns about the death of her son, she visits Shri Krishna along with her grandson Bhagadatta begging for their lives. Shri Krishna then offers the kingdom of Kamrup to Bhagadatta. Krishna then enters the harem of Naraka and releases the thousands of captive women that were held by the demon. He also collects all the stolen items and returns to Amravati. The Gods welcome Lord Krishna with celestial kettledrums and flowers.

           Then Krishna and Satyabhama go to meet Lord Indra and his wife Shachi. The Parijata tree, which is planted on the entrance catches the eyes of the guests. After greeting the Gods and returning back all the items to their rightful owners, Krishna returns back to his palace along with Satyabhama and Narada. Furious Satyabhama criticizes her husband and his games, as he forgets to fetch her the Parijata tree. Apologizing Shri Krishna asks Narada to fetch the tree for his dear wife Satyabhama. 

       As soon as Shachi comes to know about this, she fumes with rage and tells Narada to inform Satyabhama that only a Goddess, residing in Amravati can have the fortune of wearing it. She even questions the audacity of mortal Satyabhama to yearn for the heavenly flower. Narada returns back to Dvaraka and expresses everything that Shachi had said to him. Hearing this, Satyabhama requets Krishna to fetch the tree right away for her. Following her command, Shri Krishna uproots the entire Parijata tree and returns back to his palace. 

      When Shachi learns about this, she instigates her husband Lord Indra to pick a fight with Krishna and bring back the Parijata tree to Amravati. Indra picks up his weapons and forwards towards Krishna's palace along with Shachi and other Gods. As soon as Shachi sees Satyabhama, she starts attacking her with insulting words about Shri Krishna, to which Satyabhama retorts back with similar words about Shachi's husband, Lord Indra. This incites both the husbands, and they begin attacking each other with arrows. However, Indra fails to save himself from Krishna's arrows and launches his thunderbolt. The Supreme Guru, Lord Krishna smiles and grabs the thunderbolt with ease, and raises up his discus against Indra. Realizing the wrath of Krishna's discus, Indra begins to shake with fear and tries to flee on the back of his elephant. Unable to flee further, Indra falls on Krishna's feet with terror shadowing his eyes. But, Lord Krishna picks him up with a smile and returns back his thunderbolt. He even tells Indra that he has no interest in the Parijata flower and asks him to take it back. Hearing this, Satyabhama grimaces at her husband and tells him that he has no right to give away the Parijata back. Luckily, Indra offers the Parijata tree to Krishna and promises to deliver it to Dvaraka with respect.

            With this, Krishna bids farewell to Indra and all the other Gods and returns back to Dvaraka. In Dvaraka, they are welcomed with huge celebrations for his triumph over the demon. When Satyabhama sees Rukmini, she boasts about the love of Krishna for her, being greater than the love shared by Rukmini and Krishna. She even narrates to her the tale about how Krishna uprooted the entire Parijata tree for her while picking a fight with Lord Indra, compared to the single flower that he had earlier given to Rukmini. Hearing this, Rukmini displays a gentle smile on her face and answers to Satyabhama that her husband Shri Krishna is the Supreme God of the entire Universe, and nothing can be more precious than having the chance to worship his lotus feet. She adds that a parijata has  no comparison to the Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha that can be obtained through his reverence.

          When Krishna plants the beautiful Parijata tree outside his own palace, Satyabhama requests him to plant it outside the door of her palace; since people might easily steal it from his door. Obeying the orders of his dearest wife, Krishna uproots the tree from his entrance and plants it outside the door of Satyabhama. With this, her wish of owning the Parijata tree gets fulfilled, and she bows down before her husband Shri Krishna with extreme respect.

       With this the play comes to an end, and we get to experience the power of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Sankardeva's rich skill of writing blends with the historic story extracted from the Puranas and Bhagavata. This story is especially attractive to the Assamese people because of its connection to Assam's history. The demon Naraka was the ruler of Pragjyotishpur or Kamrup in ancient Assam. This play is often regarded as the best play written by Srimanta Sankardeva. The main objective of the play was to create the belief among the mass that the ultimate power of the universe rests in the hands of Lord Krishna, and we must all pray to him. Through the two main events of the play i.e. the destruction of Narakasura and the Parijata issue, the playwright has tried to establish his faith in the Supreme Guru of the universe, i.e. Shri Krishna.